The Browns are banking on QB Brandon Weeden, center, and RB Trent Richardson now and into the future.

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"I really like this team," said Brad Kovach, a fan from Strongsville, Ohio. "We've got a new owner, a new quarterback. We're going to have a new running back, and we've got a coach with a year under his belt. I'm really optimistic. You're going to see a new and improved Browns team."

"You have to be optimistic if you're a Browns fan," he said. "It's the only way you can keep your sanity and get through another season."

For the first time in a long time, hope has a legitimate spot on the Browns depth chart. A new owner is bringing in a fresh vitality and big money. Hey, there must be good times ahead, because Jimmy Haslam, a truck-stop magnate, paid roughly a billion dollars for the team, and billionaires know what they're doing, right?

And even though Haslam has been a fan and part owner of the hated Pittsburgh Steelers, Browns fans are willing to forgive that — if he can finally build a winner. After nine years without a playoff appearance, fans will overlook even huge flaws … like, say, that gaudy Steelers watch.

There has been more to celebrate: a pair of rookies selected in the first round carried the look of future stars on draft day in April. Quarterback Brandon Weeden and running back Trent Richardson had fans debating how fast the Browns were traveling down the path to the upper echelon of the NFL.

"Really, he's kind of improved every day," coach Pat Shurmur said of Weeden. "For a guy that's going through this for the first time as a pro, I think he's very ready."

Even Linda Curran, the priestess at Goddess Temple of Lakewood and a local authority on lifting curses, was feeling the positive vibe and promising, "Things are going to be better (in 2012)."

And then, well, stuff started to happen … the usual Browns-type stuff:

•Richardson, the draft's third overall pick, had arthroscopic knee surgery but is expected to play in Sunday's opener at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Adding a tinge of dread: It was his second knee surgery.

•Lockdown cornerback Joe Haden, kicked out of practice one day for being too rough, is awaiting news on a possible suspension for taking a banned drug used to help treat narcolepsy and attention deficit disorder.

•On a day when the news should have been joyous — as Weeden was named the starter — incumbent but now-backup Colt McCoy complained that he was never really given a shot at winning the job.

All of these events, in rapid-fire succession, ate at the optimism. But the bad news has slowly wafted away.

Still, Haslam knows his mission is to change that "not-again" culture. He said so in his initial news conference.

"My wife said, 'Man, everyone's so nice to us.' I said, 'We'll see how long that lasts,' " Haslam joked. "Let's be realistic, it's all about winning. If we win, things are going to get better, but there's no reason why this can't be a winning franchise. Everything's here, right?

"If they don't win, I'll accept the blame. It's our fault. We didn't execute like we should. Every other piece is in place here: great fan base, the money you need. We just have to execute."

For the most part, history has been a litany of failure for the Browns since they won their last title in the 1964 NFL championship game, whipping the Baltimore Colts 27-0 two years before the advent of the Super Bowl.

"The Drive" and "The Fumble" are painfully etched into fans' memories, and, more recently, this is a franchise that last season saw one of the league's toughest running backs, Peyton Hillis, somehow turn into an injury-prone malcontent who wouldn't sign a contract and skipped games on the advice of his agent.

Hillis signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason and seemingly has regained his old, well-regarded form.

Still, this is a time for optimism for all 32 NFL teams, even those that have lost as regularly as the Browns. So it is not surprising they are looking on the bright side of life.

Left offensive tackle Joe Thomas is beginning his sixth season with the team after being their first-round draft pick in 2007. He is the face of the franchise after being selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his five seasons. He smiles when the word "curse" is mentioned.

"I've heard the stories, and I know the history," Thomas said. "But we're no different than any other team when it comes to injuries. Everyone deals with them. We just happened to have a high-profile draft choice get hurt."

In Thomas' mind, the tough start to the preseason was just another bump in what has long been a pothole-filled road, and he isn't deterred.

"I'm signed on for seven more years here, and I wouldn't have committed that long if I didn't feel we could win," Thomas said. "I've had my share of personal achievements, and those are nice, but the biggest thing is to win. The fun part of the game is winning, and that's what I want more than anything."

The Browns have the makings of a good defense after finishing 10th in the NFL in yards allowed last season with an average of 332.4. They think an offense that ranked 29th with an average of 288.8 yards a game will be improved with not only Richardson and Weeden but also second-year wide receiver Greg Little, who also possesses star potential.

But the Browns' talent is still mostly unproven, which is why they are universally picked to finish last in the AFC North.

"We're on the right track," said Doug Dieken, a franchise icon who was an offensive tackle in the 1970s and '80s. "The fans are excited because they see a roster that's getting younger and more athletic, but they're also going to have to be patient. Of course, saying the word 'patience' to a Browns fan is like saying 'Steelers.' Our fans have been patient forever."

Of course, nothing would excite Cleveland more than a Super Bowl championship or even just the franchise's first trip to the big game. That would seem to go a long way toward reversing any curse.

"I don't know about curses or anything like that, because this is just my second season and all I can really talk about is what's happened since I've been here," Shurmur said. "What I do know is that we have very passionate fans who care a great deal about this franchise, and we're going to do everything in our power to make the Cleveland Browns a winning organization."

Curran, meanwhile, doesn't see the need to light any black candles — the ones for breaking curses.

"You know what our favorite saying is in Cleveland? 'Wait til next year,' " she said. "Well, one of these years, next year is going to come for the Browns as long as the spirits stay good."

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a longtime Browns fan, wears a Josh Cribbs jersey in the NFL's marketing campaign for women's apparel. Her take on the Browns?

"I'm an optimist," she said. "I just keep hoping. Hey, things have to get better."